If you need practicality for biking etc, GTI may be a better option? (Self confessed GTI fan.)

Bikes go on the roof, so I'm not too worried about that, and I have a roof box too for touring. Must admit I'm not a fan of plaid seats. The Golf doesn't really do anything for me, despite being practically the same car...

Bike goes in the back easily enough with the seats folded (had two bikes and luggage in before). The flaired rear arches take away a bit of space, but it isn't too bad. I have the VW roof rack too although only use it when I need the back seats for passengers.

My 2.0TDI has been reliable for 2.5 years. Literally nothing wrong with it. The 2.0 TSI is the same engine as the GTI (you probably know that already). I suspect the Scirocco probably handles better as it is lower and wider than the equivalent Golf.

Front seats are very comfortable and the spec is better than equivalent Golfs of the time (RCD510 rather than the smaller screened radio on the golf at the time, adjustable suspension as standard for example). I was also attracted by the fact that it is a fair bit rarer than the Golf (slightly less so now than when I bought).

Scirocco over GTI for me (although I'm looking at a GTI next as I need 5 doors )

Dsg imo has a small flaw in that it's hard to pull away really quickly. Got used to it now though, and I think sporty ones have a launch setting that allows quicker starts.

It is possible to confuse the gearbox if you suddenly change driving style ie cruising then flooring it, but all you get is a shift that takes a second rather than 1/10 second. Not an issue for me, and easy to understand why it does it and how to work with it. Esp if you have floppy paddles.

It makes random choices of what gear to be in.
Gentle overtake in 6th, drops to 3rd and full boost... I don't want that , I want to ride the torque.
Drive along in 6th , small rise in the road and it will drop to 4th when it could easily stay in 6th. Constant unnecessary gear changes really annoy me .
It's a great engine in a very capable chassis let down by that stupid box.

In sport mode it doesn't like to change up and will stay in 3rd pretty much all the time unless pulling way.

Using the paddles mean no engine braking so driving fast is a series of stabby acceleration and braking. Very hard to get a flow growing and actually enjoy thre drive/road/ car.

In isolation -ie a test drive, the DSG is impressive but the novelty wore off within a week.

I've had my 2.0TSI for nearly four years now and love it. Can't see me getting rid of it.

I personally prefer the manual version as for me the DSG gives a more remote feel to the driving.

We're in a similar position, couple with no kids but a dog and plenty of outdoor activities. The Scirocco will take my mountain bike in easily with the back wheel still in and we've gone away for the weekend with four 'adults' in it so its pretty practical.

i also use it for about 20-30 miles most days and have to say I don't often see more than the high twenties in MPG. Although that might be because mine's got 250 bhp from a remap and has a Quaiffe LSD which along with the adjustable suspension makes it an awesome toy for 'enthusiastic' driving.

Build quality wise I've had no major issues at all, its got no real squeaks or rattles and the only serious breakdown was a sensor in the fuel tank went so it kept refusing to start. However that was all sorted by VW.

I get plenty of engine braking. When in manual mode, it stays in gear just like a manual. Honestly no idea what you are talking about. Also mine stays in 6th when cruising all the time, have to force it to change down when I want to go quicker. You must have a different programme or something, yours honestly sounds absolutely nothing like mine. Maybe it's cos the car is different, mine's on a non sporty diesel Passat. No randomness in it at all.

Unless you are really really heavy with the throttle. If you plank your foot tight down when approaching a hill it would go from 6th to maybe 3rd. But you would have to be nearly flooring it.

Mate of mine has one of these. Loves it from a driving point of view. Is getting rid of it from a practicality point of view. Everytime I've been in it I've loved it, but is a bit of a faff just getting one bike + kit into it. All depends on your priorities I guess

I've road tested a few cars recently, some of which had a DSG7 gearbox. They seem fine to me. If anything, as the driver doesn't need to 'do' anything, maybe they seem to take a long while to select a gear because normally the driver would be preoccupied pushing the clutch or whatever. Instead, the car does it, in a fraction of the time...

Anyway, it can't have been too bad, I'm now awaiting the delivery of my new Skoda Fabia VRS

In my Passat, it's the latter. The gearbox doesn't let the revs build up high enough to let the turbo spool up before letting the clutch out, so you have a second delay before the turbo kicks in and you fly off.

However, I googled extensively about this and lots of people say that you can put your foot on the brake and bring the revs up with the throttle before releasing the brake to get a quick start, possibly being in sport mode and/or with ESP off. This definitely does not work in my car BUT all the threads I saw about it were on GTI forums. So I conclude that it's a feature of GTI spec gearboxes, which you'd have in the Scirocco.

For me, it's alarming at first as you get beeped at a lot - then you start learning to work around it. You start slightly further back from the line and start moving as the other car's just level with you. Using this technique I've managed fine in the busy South East.

I would suggest googling up and then trying it out when/if you test drive.

It would not stop me having one even in a Passat - they are fantastic to drive, you get such a firm smooth feeling of acceleration, it's lovely. The only things that may put me off in the future are a slight drop in fuel economy (but I still get 60mpg on motorways) and the risk of failure.

Yes there are foibles, but so there are with manuals. You have to keep faffing about with that stick and the extra pedal ALL the time not just in certain circumstances I never realised how much of a massive ballache it is in crawling traffic until I drove auto.

Personally the only reason I'd go for DSG over manual is if I did a lot of stop/start driving like in heavy traffic. For me as a 'drivers car' its simply not as involving and fun as a manual.

Speaking from experience I guarantee most people end up leaving it in auto 95% of the time and the only time you do choose to change gear yourself you'll decide within 2 minutes its easier to let the car do it for you and revert back to auto.

DSG is a way for people to buy an auto without having to admit they're buying an auto.

My Rocco is a manual, and the relatively short throw gearstick means it is great for making quick progress and swift gear changes. I'd happily recommend that option.

I very occasionally use the car for work in Edinburgh and think then that the DSG might be handy when crawling along at 5mpg or in stop/start traffic, but I do that so rarely that my next car will still be a manual, particularly having read the above

I had one for three years until June this year, miss it a whole lot and only finances and ditching cars all together made me get rid of it.

I had a 2.0tsi with the DSG and have to say I can't follow at all what is being said above. The gear box is superb, yes if you're cruising and then suddenly put your foot through the floor it may take a moment to adjust (the accelerator has a stop, push it beyond that and it drops straight down to the optimum acceleration gear). It also has launch control too.

I drove mine across Europe and through very snowy winters and it was a hoot in those conditions, admittedly I had winter tyres fitted but that's just common sense imho. I also took it round the Nuerburgring and Spa on a number of occasions and not once did it come close to letting me down even in pouring rain.

For me as a 'drivers car' its simply not as involving and fun as a manual

If I were buying a sporty car I would be torn, to be fair. Manual is good for driving yes but the DSG shifts far better and quicker than you ever could, with no break in power. The feeling of ripping up through the gears with instant changes is great.

I would have to think twice about speccing one on a new car, due to cost, but I do think I would miss it if I didn't have it.

By way of explanation, since we're here, the gearbox has two shafts, one with 1 3 and 5 on, the other with 2 4 and 6. So you're in 1st accelerating and it pre-selects 2nd on the other shaft, and because there are two clutches it can switch over to the next gear almost instantly. Then whilst you're accelerating in 2nd it selects 3rd on the other.

The only time there's a delay is when it decides you want a gear other than the one it's got pre-selected. So if you are accelerating gently or trundling in 4th say, it'll have 5th ready to go but if you then stick your foot down a lot it'll decide 3rd is better, so there'll be a delay of about a second whilst it engages 3rd instead of 5th on the other shaft.

This NEVER happens when you are giving it the beans on the open road - only when you are changing tactics. When overtaking, you have two choices. You can pre-select the gear you know you want in manual mode, keep it there and then go - exactly like you would in a manual. Or, you can just bury the pedal. As above, if you do that it'll select the lowest gear it can which may take a second. However the nice thing is that it'll also pre-select the next gear at the same time so in that second you'll be at peak power, then get an instant upshift. Despite the second's delay I think this is still just as quick overall as manual.

Very interesting molgrips and far better explained than I could, I echo that the DSG shifts faster than I ever could (being a useless numpty) but also that not having to take your hands from the wheel is a bonus when using 'manual'.

Yeah.. my Passat unfortunately doesn't have the flappy paddles, manual mode is operated via the gear selector. Incredibly annoying spec choice by the original owner, it's only a £300 option in a £20k+ car.. grr. And what's worse is that the gear selector seems to be a standard LHD part so to activate manual you move it AWAY from the driver not closer, which makes it far more of a reach than it ought to be.

Have to say in all the miles I've done with the various VAG versions of DSG I've never had a problem from a reliability, performance issue. Yes there can be a slight delay but you do get used to it and take it in to account after a few miles.

For me its more to do with the enjoyment, I find them remote and less fun to drive.

Its the same discussion people have been having about Auto v Manual for years, just now they've given the auto a fancy name. You're never going to get the same feeling from it because the gearbox removes one of your points of contact with the car but they're easier and more comfortable to drive.

Also worth noting, the changes may be theoretically quicker on a DSG but VW quote identical 0-60 times for manual and DSG on all Scirocco's apart from the R so in actual fact they don't have any bearing on the performance.